Andrea Cremer spent her childhood daydreaming while roaming the forests and lakeshores of Northern Wisconsin. She now lives in Minnesota, but she thinks of her homeland as the “Canadian Shield” rather than the Midwest.

Andrea has always loved writing and has never stopped writing, but she only recently plunged into the deep end of the pool that is professional writing. When she’s not writing, Andrea is a professor of history at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.”

In the little spare time she can find, Andrea stares up at trees, rescues infant rabbits from predatory cats, and invents names for pug puppies with her husband. She has an unfortunate tendency to spill things – white carpets beware!

Cels:

Thank you so much for dropping by and visiting us again at Burn Bright and congrats on the release of the third instalment in the Nightshade series, Bloodrose. There are another two instalments slated to come in the series and “Rift” is also due to hit shelves later this year. Are there a set number of books to come in the series or can we hope for many more adventures with Calla?

Andrea:

Calla’s story came to a conclusion with the Nightshade trilogy, but there are many more stories to take place in Nightshade world that focus on different times, places and characters. RIFT and RISE are a two-book prequel sequence that reveal the origins of the Witches’ War. I can’t reveal what might be next after that.

Cels:

Calla is an amazing role model for girls of all ages. The way she steps up and faces adversity is awe inspiring. Who have been your greatest inspirations?

Andrea:

It’s kind of an odd mix but completely honest: my mother, my teachers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Cels:

Are there any other projects apart from the Nightshade series you’re working on that you can tell us about?

Andrea:

Yes! I’m co-authoring a book with David Levithan (Will Grayson, Will Grayson, The Lover’s Dictionary) called the INVISIBILITY CURSE, which will be published in spring 2013 and I’m also writing a new steampunk series, THE INVENTOR’S SECRET, the first book of which will be published in fall 2013.

Cels:

If you could spend the day with any fictional character from any medium, who would it be and why?

Andrea:

From any medium? Wow, that’s hard. Well, I have to pick the Doctor (preferably in his David Tennant or Matt Smith incarnation) because who could up a chance for TARDIS adventures in time and space!

Malinda Lo was born in China and moved to the United States as a child. Ash, her first novel, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, and the Lambda Literary Award for Children’s/Young Adult, and was a Kirkus 2009 Best Book for Children and Teens.

Her second novel, Huntress, is a companion novel to Ash and is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Her young adult science fiction duology, beginning with Adaptation, will be published in fall 2012. Formerly, she was an entertainment reporter, and was awarded the 2006 Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for Excellence in LGBT Journalism by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association for her work at AfterEllen. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and has master’s degrees from Harvard and Stanford Universities. She now lives in Northern California with her partner and their dog.

Cels: Thank you so much for dropping by and visiting us here at Burn Bright. Both our reviewers who read Ash and Huntress fell head over heels for the stories, and for myself, Huntress is one of the most thought provoking, heart-wrenching novels I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Not only does it contain a poignant and beautiful love story, here we meet two amazing young women who must face the choice of obligation over their feelings. I enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t society placing the obstacles in front of them, but the girls’ own career aspirations that challenged them. How important do you think works of fiction are when it comes to challenging/changing societies ideal/beliefs?

Malinda: Thank you! That is such a compliment!  Fiction can be so powerful, I think, because the format of the novel is so intimate — it’s like having someone whisper inside your brain. I love that the connection a reader can develop with a character can be so close. With a good book, you really get to know a character, and often you come to identify and sympathize with them. If you don’t share their beliefs that can push you to broaden your own, or at least gain some understanding into why they think differently than you do.

As a writer of fiction, I don’t purposely write to change anyone’s ideals or beliefs, but it’s not a black-and-white situation. I have to be true to the characters and the story I’m telling, but also, my own beliefs probably come through in the fiction I write. I believe that’s the case with every writer, though. I’ll probably never write a story that is sympathetic to a homophobe, for example, because I doubt I’d ever want to.

Cels: Ash is the tale of Cinderella with a unique new twist. Which fairy tale’s captivated you as a child?

Malinda: You’ll be shocked to learn that my favorite fairy tale as a child was Cinderella. 🙂 I even loved the Disney version! As I grew up I came to have a more complicated relationship with the Cinderella story than I did as a child, but I think I still identify with the tale of someone who works very hard and ultimately is rewarded for her labor. The reward I’d want now is different than the one I wanted as a six-year-old, but it’s still the same general story. Also, I’m a romantic!

Cels: You have a new novel “Adaptation” releasing later this year. Can you tell us a little bit about what’s in store for us?

Malinda: It’s very different from Ash and Huntress. For one thing, it’s contemporary science fiction, set in the United States, so there aren’t any enchanted forests or fairies! It was a very fun book to write; I sort of think of it as my version of a popcorn movie. There’s a lot of action and exploding thingies, and also quite a bit of making out. (Really, more than I expected!) It’s inspired by my love for The X-Files, so you can expect conspiracies and mystery and some creepiness. I hope people enjoy it!

Cels: Which of your fictional characters burns brightest in your mind and why?

Malinda: Currently I’m writing the sequel to Adaptation (yes, there is a sequel!), so I’m very deeply in the heads of those characters. There is one, in particular, who seemed to spring from my imagination fully formed from the very beginning. I feel a little guilty about saying this, but this character is hands-down my favorite character I’ve ever created. (I can imagine all my other characters making faces at me.) Sometimes creating a character is like pulling teeth — I can’t figure out why they want to do things or even what they want to wear. But with this character, I knew all of it from the get-go. I have no idea how or why, but I think the magicalness of this character’s birth is part of why I love this one so much. (You noticed I said nothing about who this character is, right? Ha!)

Amanda Ashby was born in Australia and after spending the last sixteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand, she’s finally moved back and now lives on the Sunshine Coast. When she’s not moving country, she likes to write books (okay, she also likes to eat chocolate, watch television and sit around doing not much, but let’s just keep that amongst ourselves, shall we?)

She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award, and her first young adult book Zombie Queen of Newbury High was listed by the New York Public Library’s Stuff for the Teen Age 2010. Her latest release, Fairy Bad Day, has been selected by Voya as one of their Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers 2012.

Cels: Firstly I have to say a big congrats on having four new releases hitting shelves this year, three of which are your first offering’s to the primary school aged market. Did you find your writing style and process had to change with the “Mixed up Magic” series?

Amanda: Thank you! It’s definitely going to be an exciting year! As for whether my writing style had to change for “Sophie’s Mixed-Up Magic” series, unfortunately it did! Well, I say unfortunately because I hadn’t really expected there to be any difference. However, when I started to write the books I quickly realized that it’s a lot harder for a regular eleven year old girl to get out of the house on her own than it is for a teenager. In fact, it’s almost impossible and suddenly I understood why there are so many fantasy books out there for this age group (and why they are all orphans, because seriously, parents get in the way. A lot!!). And you would think that because I own an eleven year old daughter of my own, that it wouldn’t be so difficult, but it still was.

Thankfully, after I finished writing the three Sophie books, I went straight into my next YA book, Demonosity, which was a complete joy to write and I had my heroine sneaking out all over the place!

Cels: I adored Zombie Queen of Newbury High and Fairy Bad Day and was blown away by your unique and hilarious take on some of our favourite imaginary beings. Can you tell us a little about the worlds and fabulously funny characters (and annoying little faeries) that inhabit them for those who haven’t yet discovered them?

Amanda: I’m so pleased that you enjoyed Zombie and Fairy. I always feel slightly embarrassed when I talk about my ridiculous books. Most of the time I write things for my own amusement and don’t really stop to consider that other people might one day read them.

With Zombie Queen of Newbury High, Mia is living in a normal world until she decides to do a love spell. Unfortunately, she actually ends up doing a very different spell and turns her entire senior year into zombies. Mia doesn’t realize what she’s done until she gets a visit from the school new-boy, Chase. Chase works for the Department of Paranormal Containment and the pair of them have to find a way to reverse the spell before the virus moves into stage four and the zombies all come looking to eat their queen, Mia!

There is something so inherently funny about the word zombie, that I had loads of fun writing this entire book. To show the students moving through the various stages of the virus, I had them eating lots of beef jerky and hamburgers. They also tried to fatten Mia up by giving her lots of snack food and every time they saw her, all they could smell was chicken! Hands down my favourite scene is when Mia’s hypochondriac best friend Candice, and Mia’s arch nemesis, Samantha are both sitting in the back of the car bickering over who will get to eat Mia when they turn into zombies.

As for Fairy Bad Day, unlike Mia, Emma isn’t a normal girl living in a normal world. She goes to a prestige slaying school and is desperate to follow in her dead mother’s footsteps by becoming a dragon slayer. Instead, she discovers that her new vocation is to be a fairy slayer. She is completely horrified and determined to make her principal change his mind.

Unfortunately, the more she tries, the angry he gets and she finds herself stuck with them. At this point—because I’m cruel—I took it upon myself to make the fairies as ridiculous and irritating as possible just to annoy her! And so, instead of using swords and weapons in her slaying kit she is forced to resort to Skittles, nail files and hairspray (and actually, I swear that Rupert, Trevor and Gilbert all receive a lot more fan mail than I do!)

However, Emma then discovers that there is another kind of fairy that no one can see–a killer fairy. Unfortunately, thanks to her over-zealous efforts to get out of being a fairy slayer, no one believes her and she becomes the girl who cried wolf (or invisible fairy) and so she has to turn to the one person she hates more than anyone. Curtis Green, the guy who took her dragon slaying spot.

Cels: Where are some of your favourite places to write? Do you have any certain “rituals” or process to put yourself in the “zone”?

Amanda: Kitchen table! For the longest time I never had my own study so I would just take my laptop to wherever it was warm and sunny. However, since we moved back to Australia I do now have my own desk, but I’m so used to being a nomad that I tend to only put books and bills on it! I don’t really have any great rituals. I will put a playlist on if I remember, but that’s not essential and I will normally have some water and Diet Coke within reaching distance.

Cels: Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

Amanda: Malik!!!! I always tend to have a sassy side-kick in my books but Malik is the sassiest of them all! He is a two thousand year old dead djinn who looks like Zac Efron, loves American Idol and is addicted to Cheerios and it’s his job is to show Sophie the ropes. Unfortunately, all he manages to do is create chaos and Sophie is constantly getting into trouble with her teachers and with her mom because of the mess that Malik creates! But despite the fact he is a walking disaster, he always means well and when Sophie isn’t trying to kill him, she is actually grateful to have him there!

Discover more about Amanda and her books.

Kelley was born and raised in central California, where she still resides with her lovely wife, daughter, and an abundance of pets. (Although she does fantasize about moving across the globe to Ireland.) She has a fascination with bells, adores all things furry – be them squeaky, barky or meow-y – is a lover of video games, manga and anime, and likes to pretend she’s a decent photographer. Her life goal is to find a real unicorn. Or maybe a mermaid. Within young adult, she enjoys writing and reading a variety of genres from contemporary with a unique twist, psychological thrillers, paranormal/urban fantasy and horror. She loves stories where character development takes center stage.

1. You have your debut young adult thriller “Hushed” due to be released on December 6th 2011 (congrats!). From the blurb it certainly seems to be filled with malice, murder, love and revenge. Can you tell us a little about who Archer is and how he has reached this pivotal point in his life?

Archer is a very intense guy whose biggest flaws are his unwavering sense of loyalty and his fear of rejection. He grew up struggling to make the people around him happy, and that desire to protect and be noticed intensified as he got older. His insecurities mixed with how people (his parents, Vivian, even his peers) treated him have led him to develop a very skewed moral compass.

2. The subject manner of your novel is quite dark and twisted and shows human nature at some of its worst moments. How hard emotionally was it to bring the story to life?

I get very attached to my characters, so there were parts of HUSHED that broke my heart to write. There’s one particular defining moment in the book—the exact scene wherein everything changes for Archer—that took me awhile to get just right because I would get so emotional anytime I tried to work on it. I could hurt when Archer hurt, and I could love when he loved…and I could be frustrated when Evan was frustrated, haha.

3.  Being new to the publishing world, are there any tips you found worked particularly well for you that may help other aspiring authors?

Listen very carefully to the advice you’re given. Be it from critique partners, agents, forum members, or whoever. But learn what advice to take and what to leave. (I’m so specific, huh?) Also, patience. HUSHED didn’t find its home until I was ready to put it aside. Sometimes it takes awhile.

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

Archer. Definitely. I’m a sucker for my most emotionally fragile and broken characters, and he fits that perfectly. There isn’t a single character in HUSHED whose voice is as vivid and real to me as Archer’s.

Kelley’s website: http://www.kelley-york.com/blog

Hushed – Synopsis:

He’s saved her. He’s loved her. He’s killed for her.

Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn’t protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he’s never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn’t matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another – Archer is always there, waiting to be noticed.

Then along comes Evan, the only person who’s ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.

But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out about the murders Archer’s committed and his relationship with Evan, she threatens to turn him in if she doesn’t get what she wants…And what she wants is Evan’s death, and for Archer to forfeit his last chance at redemption.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hushed-Kelley-York/dp/1937044742

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hushed-kelley-york/1033904538

1. The Rosie Black Chronicles are set 500 years into the future. Why did you choose a science fictional landscape? Or did it choose you?

It was a definite choice to set it in a Sci Fi landscape because the idea for Rosie’s world came from me thinking about the kind of place Earth would become if the current problems associated with global warming aren’t dealt with, but I also have a great love for space opera and space westerns and I wanted to also write about a world that had space travel as well, so of course it had to be Sci Fi.

2. You describe your protagonist as a 16 year old Banker. Can you explain a little about your world and her place in it?

The world Rosie Black lives in has much harsher environmental and social conditions to what we have today. It is a hotter place and many of the world’s coastal cities have been swallowed by rising sea levels, climate refugees have infiltrated the major continents, water shortages are common place and an incurable disease known as the MalX is killing people off – especially if you’re poor.

In Rosie’s world, unless you are wealthy, you only drink recycled water, rarely eat real meat and exist on a diet of soy protein replacements and seaweed products. Politically the Earth is basically run by a global government called the United Earth Commission which has satellite representatives in the continents, known as The Senate in Rosie’s part of the world.  Rosie’s place in the world is almost as low as you can get.

Newperth is divided into social and economic classes with the top of the rung being Centrals – who live in the centre of the city and have various holiday estates – followed by the Rim dwellers, Bankers and at the very bottom, the Ferals who have no housing and live in camps in the ruins of the old city. Rosie is a Banker and lives in the housing complexes along the banks of the river, a prime MalX infection zone, and she has to struggle to help her dad make ends meet. As a Banker her prospects are few and it is only due to the help of her aunt she is able to go to school.

3. How are the Rosie Black Chronicles different from the plethora of paranormal fantasy in the marketplace? How does the SF setting add a point of difference?

Well I think it’s really different because Rosie is more in the dystopian camp than the paranormal. There are no supernatural elements in the book and it is more a futuristic adventure story with romantic elements than paranormal fantasy so the SF setting is definitely a point of difference. The greatest difference, I think, is that I have set it in Australia and reference strong post global warming themes. I’ve also mixed in space travel and planet colonisation in with the dystopian elements – what I call my Star Wars influence – and I don’t think other YA dystopian novels out there have done that.

4. Which of your character’s in your books Burn’s Brightest?

I would have to say Rosie because she has to be so independent and tough. She comes up against some very frightening people but never quite loses hope despite the loss she suffers. Hope is important and she carries it with her and never gives up, no matter how bad things get she manages to keep going despite her fears. She’s a hero in the true sense of the word.

Lara is currently on Blog Tour. You can find details of it here:

https://www.facebook.com/therosieblackchronicles

To win a giveaway of Equinox (Rosie Black 2) – head straight to:

https://www.facebook.com/BurnBright